WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th July, 2019) US President Donald Trump is considering using an executive order to include a question concerning citizenship status on the 2020 Census yet is already seeing pushback over the legality of such a move.
"We're thinking about doing that," Trump told reporters on Friday when asked if he would use an executive order to insert a question concerning citizenship status during the US Census.
Trump added that US Attorney General William Barr is looking at different options the White House can use.
Trump said last week that he asked his lawyers to delay the US census after the Supreme Court effectively blocked the administration from adding a citizenship status question.
The Justice Department confirmed later that the 2020 Census printer has been instructed to begin the printing process without including the citizenship status question.
US Congressman Ted Lieu in a statement on Friday said Trump exposed his hand by admitting the reason driving the census citizenship question which is to draw voting district lines. Drawing congressional districts based on "citizens," rather than "persons," is unconstitutional, Lieu said.
Attorney General Letitia James called Trump's potential action illegal and said her office would not sit idly by and allow Trump to subvert the law.
